We had a tasty Indian breakfast at home and started our drive to Anza Borrego Desert State Park, which is famous for its camping, biking, hiking, a large variety of flowering cacti, palm groves, bighorn sheep and exotic birds like black throated sparrows, Le Conte’s thrashers ,white doves and humming birds, our son specifically wanted us to see the sculptures in the park
It is the largest state park in California with five hundred miles of dirt roads, extensive wild areas and many miles of hiking trails which attract visitors who flock to this place to experience the wonders of the California desert.
As it is a huge park, ideally it takes at-least 2 weeks to see all the wonders like the wind caves and,hot springs and the oasis but due to constraint of time we did only a day trip.
The park is named after the Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza and the Spanish word Borrego means big horn sheep that inhabit the park
The park is one of the hottest locations in the U.S. -- Borrego Valley and Borrego Badlands where temperature in summer is said to be an average 107 degrees F and can climb as high as 125 degrees F
The park has an exceptional fossil record which includes preserved plants, a variety of invertebrate shells, animal tracks, and an array of bones and teeth, most fossils found in the park date from six million to under a half million years in age
Our drive took us from grass green terrains with slowly emerging gentle hills to large mountains ,the greenery gradually decreased and we started to see more of rocky dry lands and patches of defiantly cultivated fields with their produce being sold on the roadside ,we passed Ramona and Santa Ysabel ,I wondered at the similarities in the names ,Ramona and my husband’s name Ramana ,only one letter changed ,LOL !
We finally reached Borrego Springs, a town surrounded by the state park, we could see bustling activity and many art shops and plenty of eateries. We parked at the architecturally striking Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Visitor centre which was built into the side of a hill and hardly visible from the road.
It had a small and cozy museum with orientation & visitor Information with interactive exhibits, park maps and various trail maps along with gift and book shops .
The park rangers were very friendly and distributed brochures readily, we sat through a 15-minute audiovisual presentation, on the bighorn sheep and on wild flowers, un fortunately we couldn’t see any wild flowers as our visit was not in the season which often begins in February and extends into April.
The visitor’s centre had a lot of native trees and cacti including the Barrel cactus which naturally induced me to take a click of course
The special attraction of Borrego springs are the large metal sculptures more than 130 in number placed in the fields around Borrego Springs.
Dennis Avery, landowner of Galleta Meadows Estates in Borrego Springs, California with great fore thought converted his stark desert property into a vivid canvas. He filled it with the incredible steel welded sculptures created by artist and welder Ricardo Breceda who used various sized hammers to mould bars, wires and metals to produce beautiful sculptures
From the paved road one can easily drive on dirt roads to get near each of the life-sized sculptures. The complete circuit of about 20 miles round trip offered safe places to pull off the road and some sand roads. We are asked not to take new roads and to pay special attention to soft sand as our car may get stuck up in the sand. It was indeed a different experience to drive ,stop at one place and look at all the sculptures there and proceed
Since the surrounding landscape is so barren, it is easy to see the sculptures and some could be seen on our drive too ,we relied on the map given at the visitor centre
Galleta Meadows is unfenced and open to the public to visit, hike, horseback riding, picnicking, photography, and bicycling and visitors are allowed every day of the year
The Galleta Meadows metal sculptures have different themes. The largest theme appears to be of prehistoric animals, including dinosaurs. Other themes have a connection to the desert environment in which they are located, like desert animals, including scorpions and bighorn sheep.
There a remarkable an approximately 350-foot-long sea dragon that gives the scary illusion of it snaking into and over top the desert sand. (pic courtesy Flickr-RuggyBearLA )
We saw the Camelops an extinct genus of camel that once roamed western North America but disappeared about 10,000 years ago. The camels were majestic sculptures with unique fur and postures. Detailing was accurate even the muscles of the camel were clearly visible
Sculptures like the Giant Tortoise were looking very realistic and huge ,some looked like they would come alive at the blink of an eye.
There were sculptures of migrant farm workers picking grapes, they were arranged in a group in a vineyard. One can see them picking grapes, carrying boxes, and building a trellis.
One more remarkable sculpture is that of the Prospector as this area was one of the first that gold miners moved to when the rush started.
An Indian head representing the Native Americans that helped play a significant role in expeditions to California in the 1770s,a priest bearing a cross and a jeep balanced precariously on a pile of stones are favorites for the tourists
The sloths also had the unique fur of metal which must have taken a very long time to create
The scorpion was done in a great detail and very massive. It was probably about 15 feet tall and 10 feet long.
It appeared to be in a tough fight with a grasshopper across which was also very impressive with its wings very intricately done
There were a few mammoths probably 20 feet tall and 15 feet long and had impressive tusks. It is said that there have been a few skeletal remains found of mammoths in this area
There were sculptures of horses seen, most of which were off the road and seemed to blend into the background as if they truly belonged there
Sculptures of big horn sheep also looked very realistic (,this photo was downloaded courtesy James Bremner Jr @,2017 DesertUSA.com),
Many sculptures of dinosaurs were there and the artist has given them teeth fiery enough to scare a timid soul
Those who visit the park in summer should carry plenty of water, hat and sunscreen as the desert is scorching hot. And because Borrego Springs is a “Dark Sky Community” many enthusiastic tourists bring their tripods to view the starry skies.
Since we were there for a limited time only , we could see only few of the sculptures, however the ones we saw were stunning, it was as if the metal sculptures were dancing in perfect rhythm with the vivid blue sky with the silent massive mountains surrounding watching them solemnly, oblivious of the cars and the noisy tourists
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